Woods Works Overtime For Victory

AKRON, Ohio -- Even Tiger Woods, a man who has won in almost every conceivable fashion, could not have anticipated Sunday's marathon at the NEC Invitational.

It took seven sudden-death holes, and many of the shots in Woods' arsenal, for him to defeat Jim Furyk in thrilling fashion.

"It was a war out there," Woods said after his birdie on the seventh playoff hole gave him the victory at Firestone Country Club. "Neither one of us was going to give an inch. When we did mess up, and we did make our share of mistakes, both of us recovered.

"Today was a lot of fun for me to be involved in, win or lose. It was just fun to compete like that, where you are tested to the absolute utmost."

Subduing Furyk with a great wedge approach shot from 140 yards that stopped three feet from the hole to set up the decisive birdie, Woods won at Firestone for the third consecutive year, and won his sixth consecutive start in Ohio, including three straight victories at the Memorial.

It was the longest playoff on the PGA Tour since 1991, when Bruce Fleisher defeated Ian Baker-Finch in seven holes of sudden death in the New England Classic.

Woods was 12-under par for the tournament (268, 66-67-66-69), as was Furyk (268, 65-66-66-71). The $1 million first-place check in this World Golf Championships event made Woods the first tour player to earn more then $25 million. The victory was his first since May and fifth of the year.

Facing almost certain defeat on the first sudden-death hole, Furyk holed out a 30-foot bunker shot to save par.

"He played a great shot," Woods said of Furyk. "To hit it that soft on that steep a green was pretty impressive."

Furyk's improbable hole-out forced Woods to make a 4-foot putt to keep the match going. But Woods made the putt.

"It's a week I should be proud of, but I'm honestly disappointed with the finish," said Furyk, who started the day with a two-stroke lead over Woods, and who missed three potential birdie putts in sudden death. "My putter kind of failed me. I was having problems with left-to-right putts to win the tournament. I hit a couple of them weak, and I think that was the difference today."